Sports
O’Donnell hopes Galway can break Mayo’s grip on province
GALWAY versus Mayo at Pearse Stadium on Sunday (4pm): victim and perpetrator returning to the scene of the crime.
It is two years since Mayo destroyed Galway when they last met in Salthill but the horrific imagery of that day remains fresh in the consciousness of local Gaelic football fans. It’s still raw.
Galway restored some pride in defeat to Mayo in Castlebar last year but surely only a win over the ‘auld enemy’ will entirely erase the hurt from the humiliation in 2013. The final score was 4-16 to 0-11; Galway, reduced to 13 men, were beaten out the gap, the 17-points deficit, a record-equalling losing margin that stretched back over 100 years.
Galway centre-back, Gary O’Donnell, returning from injury that day, was only sprung from the bench with 15 minutes to go. By then the contest was long over, and it had turned into an exhibition for Mayo.
“It was a hard watch really,” admits the Tuam Stars man, whose Mayo parents Pat and Mona are from Louisburgh and Claremorris.
“Watching the game at the start you’re itching to get in and hoping to make an impact but once I came on . . . you’re not going to turn it down but at the same time it was a bit surreal. We were down to 13 men, we were 12 or 13 points down and you’re kind of chasing your tail. It was damage limitation at that stage.
“We probably weren’t prepared for the level of intensity they were playing at. They’re a Division One team the last few years and competing at the highest level. We walked into the unknown really. They kind of blitzed us. They played at a level of intensity that we weren’t used to and we needed to learn from that and hopefully we will.
“We were just a bit vulnerable and they did a job on us . . . It hasn’t been mentioned at all, to be honest with you. Obviously a couple of lads have it in the back of their minds that they want to put things right but from our perspective we haven’t discussed it at all. We’re focussing on the now and what’s important for us and what we can do.”
Sunday is only a Connacht championship semi-final but Mayo are on a ‘drive for five’ provincial titles this year. O’Donnell, a business and PE teacher in Presentation College, Athenry, says that’s not something that has been specifically mentioned within the squad but breaking Mayo’s supremacy out west is the aim.
“They have a stranglehold on the province. We are obviously looking to stop that. But being honest about it I don’t think the five-in-a-row has been mentioned at all by the lads. Small little things like that, I’m sure lads have it in the back of their minds about certain things and putting a few things right. The fact that they have had so much recent success in Connacht is definitely a driving force to maybe stop it and maybe turn it around. During the 1960s and 70s, Galway had their periods of dominance and Mayo turned it around and hopefully we can do that as well.”
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GALWAY United need to guard against any kind of complacency when they make the short hop down the M18 this Friday to take on Treaty United at the Markets Field (7.45pm).
The game is a meeting of the two form teams in the division, and as in previous meetings between the sides, will have an additional edge given the number of former United players in the home side’s ranks, and the pair of Limerick lads playing for United.
There might have been just the eight meetings between the sides since Treaty became the latest iteration to represent Limerick in the League of Ireland in 2021, and while United have yet to lose to the men in the candy-cane strips, there has never been more than a goal in four of their eight wins.
The most recent of those was back in February, when Rob Slevin scored the only goal of the game in Eamonn Deacy Park after a tough battle against a side who made a slow start to the season, before finally finding their groove in the past month.
Having taken just three points from their first six games before finally getting a win against Longford Town, they reverted to type with just one point from their next three games, but are now on a run of four wins on the spin, scoring 12 goals and conceding just one.
Their most recent win was a 3-0 victory away to Longford Town last Saturday, and they could have won by double that against the only side to have beaten United this season. That in itself is a warning.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Soccer Wrap with Mike Rafferty
While the Salthill Devon men’s team might have lost their grip on the Connacht Junior Cup that they held for two seasons, the club’s women’s side have picked up the mantle and on Sunday last in Headford were crowned provincial champions with a 4-3 win over Manulla.
Following midweek wins for Maree/Oranmore and Knocknacarra, the stage is now almost set for the semi-finals of the Michael Byrne Cup with Salthill Devon meeting St Bernard’s on Sunday in an outstanding quarter-final, with the winners advancing to a semi-final against Maree/Oranmore, while Colga will face Knocknacarra in the other last four contest.
Just one league issue remains to be decided, with the Championship runners-up position up for grabs, as Dynamo Blues have to win their two remaining games in order to overtake Colemanstown United who have finished their programme.
WOMEN’S CONNACHT CUP FINAL
Salthill Devon 4
Manulla 3
Ellerose O’Flaherty scored twice as Salthill Devon were crowned provincial champions with a win over a Mayo side who were losing in the final for the second year in succession.
Backboned by a number of players who previously had League of Ireland experience with Galway WFC, Devon suffered an early set back when Jess Nolan put Manulla ahead, before O’Flaherty levelled matters with a cracking finish on 20 minutes, which was quickly followed by a long-range free-kick from Aoife Walsh.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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